The Power of Personality

I agree with your viewpoint on this matter commpletey. It is the same with Christains not being able to understand how non-Christains feel opressed in this country. The Christains can't understand the problem because they do not see all of the overt references to Christianity. As someone that has been on both sides of the issue (I was an evangelical preacher in the deep South, and now I am what most would call an agnostic) I can better understand the problems.

Obama has an instintive ability to separate trash from wisdom as he listens to his advisors... Add that to his multivaried background, his very high IQ - and you have a RARE, PENETRATING mind, rarely seen in those we elect. Among the candidates, only OBAMA has the tenacity and vision to FREE US from those who run most other campaigns on either side - and begin to respond to the cry which is HOPEFULL still deeply engraved on our souls, indeed our very bones: GIVE ME LIBERTY.... LET US BREATHE PROUDLY AGAIN !

What is this, a resume or a news commentary? Looks and smells like a resume to me. My biography, my degrees, my phd. It's more about the author than Obama, the presidential campaign or anything else. Apparently he's an international mastermind with very little in common with the rest of us, and very little upon which to relate to us, which ultimately leaves his words, interpretations and opinions moot - at least as far as a significant piece of news commentary is concerned. As intelligent as the author believes he is I think it is unfortunate he used this piece to voice his credentials instead of writing something interesting or relevant to the Newsweek readership.

I don't know, Fareed. I want to vote for Obama, for all the reasons you stated, but often, after I see him speaking I think "uh, noooo." I honestly don't think its race, or politics. I want to vote for this elegant, liberal guy, believe me, its just something in his temperament tells me he's not cut out for the brutal world of Presidential politics. There is a reason you chose academia and journalism, no? I don't see you aiming for the position of business CEO either. Temperament.

WAKE UP AMERICA!!! Neither Obama nor Hillary are even close to being "PRESIDENTIAL MATERIAL"!!! For that matter, neither is that father of DOG TORTURER/MURDERER Mike HUCKABEE! This is our country's future we're dealing with!

ever since, i have always trusted Mr. zakarias judgements. on foreign remedies and everything and so far i can say, HE IS MAKING SENSE! compared to those.... u know what i mean...

ever since, i have always trusted Mr. zakarias judgements. on foreign remedies and everything and so far i can say, HE IS MAKING SENSE! compared to those.... u know what i mean...

ever since, i have always trusted Mr. zakarias judgements. on foreign remedies and everything and so far i can say, HE IS MAKING SENSE! compared to those.... u know what i mean...

ever since, i have always trusted Mr. zakarias judgements. on foreign remedies and everything and so far i can say, HE IS MAKING SENSE! compared to those.... u know what i mean...

Fareed is spot on with his comments. Though I'm sure that his PhD goes a long way in providing the structure towards his exceptional understanding of International affairs. What he does not mention is that his exceptional early education and formative years contributed to this understanding much more than his study towards his PhD.

Enter Your Comment

With you all due respect, you continue to write articles are more opinion and sound hollow. There's no substance or depth in what you write. You are greatly mistaken to believe that as an Indian-American living in the US (there are 3 million more like yourself), you can claim "I know intimately the attraction, the repulsion, the hopes, the disappointments that the other 95 percent of humanity feels when thinking about this country". Is India's population 95 percent of humanity or have you travelled to every country in the world? Can you, for instance, elucidate why is America fighting in Iraq? Can you use your PhD to tell us why Pakistan and Bangladesh are failed states but not Malaysia and Indonesia? You sure know what you are talking about but regrettably it does little to add to our knowledge.

America will steadily be on the decline as a world power and influence if we do not have a President who has the eyes to see America the way it is perceived by million upon millions of outsiders. This type of sensitivity of vision can not come from someone who has been diluted by a stagnant thought process and pattern known as ???Old Washington???.

This article is right in the fact that having someone as Commander and Chief who knows innately how America is viewed by those that are not American is as invaluable trait during these and coming times. A former president was right in referring that Obama would be a gamble, I say, who wouldn???t be especially if they were really about change.

So, pale face can't possibly understand international issues or have solutions? US foreign aid, from both the government and private donations, has never been higher. But we are still hated? I think everyone knows why this is.

Vote Democratic so at least we don't have to hear about this for a few years. After all, did you hear much about the homeless, the poor, the economic gap during the Clinton years? Didn't take long after Jan. 2001 for these old problems to crop right back up. Surprise surprise.

Soooo, pale face can't possibly understand international matters? US international aide, both from the government and private citizens, has never been higher. Yet we are allegedly roundly hated. I think everyone knows the answer.
Vote Democratic just so we don't have to hear about these problems for a few years. Just like you rarely heard about poverty the homeless or during Clinton's years.

That's exactly one of the main problem with Obama : he "thinks" with his 'bones' and, in my opinion, that's dangerous for a President. For instance: on the Iraq resolution all others Senators, including Edwards, after receiving the information, voted for the war. Obama, without having received the complete information, took the position of beng against the war. How could he be against ( or for) if he haven't got the information? ( and "en passant",if you don't have the same information you cannot accuse the others of beng wrong , it's not intellectually honest). When President, how will he decide? Based on his 'bones'? The probability of getting it right will be very slim, and you, being a Ph.D. should know it. I bet that your Ph.D. is much more relatedwith hard work and brains than with bones. But I understand you : each time I go to a movie and I begin to move on my seat, this means to me that the movie is not good. But I'm not a movie critic nor a President.

Although, I was born an American, my parents were immigrants from Italy. Before coming to the US, they lived through the Depression and WWII there, and then lived in Argentina for a number of years in a house that had a dirt floor. I learned to speak Italian, before I learned English. The stories that my parents told me about their lives before coming here created the foundation of my personality. This background along with my ability to speak another language differentiated me from my contemporary childhood friends. My worldview was larger than their's, encompassing not only my local community and my country, but that of the old country as well. No doubt, these two things created a strong desire in me to travel to visit other countries and experience their cultures, since I knew that the world was bigger than just the United States. I've been fortunate enough to travel to Italy a number of times to see my relatives, and have visited numerous other countries as well. Not being trapped in an American-centric mentality, I've generally enjoyed my travels and constantly analyze events from more than just the US media perspective (which is extremely US-centric and status quo reinforcing). By contrast, I find most of my contemporaries, my fellow workers and neighbors, seem to have very little interest in the rest of the world and have traveled very little. I thank my parents, because they planted the roots that made me a world citizen, not just an american citizen. They opened the world for me.

THE article power of personality although in submissive tone gives good counsel to the formers and reformers of the American policy towards the world.The time has come to stop and ponder over the shortcomings and achirvements of the past century and formulate a new policy according to the situation on the ground as has been reffered by the writer.The whole world is waiting for the outcome of the elections that would surely be the trendsetters of the new American foreign policy

I like this article. But where was Fareed's 'insight' when he decided to support the invasion of Iraq? I felt from my years of living abroad that I had a different perspective on the world i.e. that invading Iraq was probably a bad idea. If Fareed can be wrong and Obama right on this issue, how helpful can this be? Hillary still has that Washington political infighting experience to push the beast forward.